Black Bean and Sweet Potato Turkey Chili

By Paul Briand

This recipe had us at sweet potato.

My wife Jane and I are big sweet potato fans. And, since you can never have enough chili recipes, we decided to give this recipe, which I found at OurBestBites.com, a whirl.

There’s a lot that goes into it, which makes for a fair amount of prep. But the end result is well worth it, especially at 160 calories per serving for those of you who care about such things.

A couple of observations: You’ll need a very large slow cooker (or pot). If not, halve this. If cooking in a pot on a stove (as I did), you may not need all the beef broth as shown. I ended up using about half.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, diced (any color)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 bell pepper, diced
1-2 jalapenos, minced
20 ounces ground turkey breast
8 ounces mushrooms, minced (about 2 heaping cups)
2 teaspoons cumin
2  teaspoons kosher salt
½  teaspoons pepper
1  teaspoon oregano
1  teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2  teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes*
1 28 ounce can tomatoes (not drained)
2 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
32 ounces beef broth (one box/carton)
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree (make sure you’re not using pumpkin pie filling :)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions
1. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil and add onion, garlic, bell pepper, and jalapenos. Saute for about 5 minutes, until veggies are tender and fragrant.  Add to slow cooker or pot;
2. In same skillet, heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Add turkey and mushrooms and stir to combine;
3. Sprinkle in cumin, salt, pepper, oregano, chili powder and smoked paprika. Add turkey mixture to slow cooker;
4. Add sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans, broth, pumpkin, cinnamon, and cocoa powder to slow cooker and stir to combine;
5. Place lid on pot and cook for 4-6 hours on high, or 8-10 on low, let stand with lid off for 10-15 minutes before serving;
6. If using a pot on a stove, cook over medium low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally. It will thicken as liquid steams off;
7. When the sweet potatoes are tender turn off heat and serve with favorite toppings.

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Turkey Sloppy Joes

By Paul Briand

It’s a challenge to extract taste while using low-fat ground turkey meat in a recipe.

So I liked the idea of this take on the tradition Sloppy Joe recipe, courtesy of a cooking segment on the Today show fearing "Top Chef" judge Padma Lakshmi.

It takes the turkey and infuses it with a lot of big taste from the garlic, shallots and bay leaves, and adds some kick with the chili-pepper flakes (and jalapenos, if you opt in on that for a topping).

If you really want to go more low fat on this recipe, substitute the hamburger buns for whole what sandwich thins. The buns will run you about 150 calories, while the thins will come in at about 100 calories.

Note: The recipe calls for two cups of hot water. I didn’t use it, didn’t need it.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

4 peeled whole cloves of garlic

1 cup diced shallots

1 large green bell pepper, diced

3 medium-size bay leaves

1tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp red chili-pepper flakes

1 lb ground lean turkey

28 oz can whole tomatoes

6 oz can tomato paste

2 cups hot water

Salt and pepper to taste

6 whole-wheat hamburger buns, split

Dill pickle slices and jalapeno slices, for garnish

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil over moderate heat in a deep skillet. Add garlic and stir;

2. After 2 to 3 minutes, add shallots, bell pepper, bay leaves, oregano and red chili flakes. Stir for a few minutes;

3. Add the ground turkey to the skillet and brown for 5 minutes, breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon

4. Add canned tomatoes, paste and 2 cups of hot water. Stir;

5. When mixture starts to boil, lower heat and let simmer until thickened, 30 to 40 minutes;

6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir mixture occasionally, breaking up tomatoes into a rich, ragu-like consistency;

7. Add salt and pepper, to taste, then toast buns split-side down on oven rack for 6 to 8 minutes;

8. Discard bay leaves. Spoon sloppy joe mixture on buns and garnish with dill pickle slices or jalapeños.

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White House Turkey Lasagna with Spinach

By Paul Briand

Who wouldn’t want to eat like the president and his family at the White House?

But we’re not talking the lavishness of an official State Dinner here.

We’re talking about a healthy dinner dish prepared for President Barack Obama and his family by White House Chef Sam Kass.

Kass was on NBC’s “Today Show” a few weeks ago to talk about and demonstrate this recipe for White House Turkey Lasagna with Spinach.

It was a hit in our not-the-White House, as dinner one night with family and as leftovers.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound fresh ground turkey

1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes, crushed

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

16 cooked whole-wheat lasagna noodles

15 ounces low-fat ricotta or low-fat cottage cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 large egg, beaten

2 cups fresh spinach, washed, but not dried

1 pound low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh or dried flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh or dried basil

Directions

1 .Preheat oven to 400 degrees;

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent;

3. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more;

4. Add ground turkey and cook for about 10 minutes;

5. Add damp spinach, stir until wilted;

6. Add plum tomatoes, tomato paste, and season with salt and pepper; let simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes;

7. Stir in basil and parsley; set aside;

8. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and egg; season with salt and pepper and set aside;

9. Ladle one-quarter of the turkey mixture into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; spread to cover;

10. Add 1/4 of lasagna noodles, one-third of the mozzarella, one-third of the ricotta mixture;

11. Repeat process two more times; top with remaining lasagna noodles;

12. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan over top; transfer to oven and bake until bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes;

13. Let stand about 5 minutes before cutting; serve.

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Turkey Patty Melt

By Paul Briand

A piece about Patty Melts on a morning news program recently gave me a hankering to try my hand at my own version of the dish that basically combines a burger with a grilled cheese sandwich.

You can use just about anything to make a Patty Melt in terms of meat, kind of cheese, and type of bread.

My Turkey Patty Melt involved some spiced up ground turkey burgers along with lots of cheese -- jalapeno cheese slices for me, American cheese slices for my wife Jane -- and slices of wheat bread.

Note that my recipe is for two, using half a pound of ground turkey.

Ingredients
1/2 pound of ground turkey melt seasoned in advance to taste with garlic powder and salt free Grill Mates Steak seasoning;
Four slices of whole wheat bread, each slice buttered on one side;
Four slices of your favorite cheese.

Directions
1. Divide the ground turkey and make two quarter pound patties;
2. In a skillet on medium high heat (or on a grill) cook turkey until done (the middle of the patty should feel firm to the touch), flipping as necessary to give each side a nice crust;
3. Remove patties and set aside;
4. Put two bread slices buttered side down on the skillet;
5. Top each piece of bread with slice of cheese, patty, another slice of cheese, and bread slice (buttered side up);
6. When bread gets dark brown, flip and cook the other slice until it too is dark brown and the cheese is entirely melted.

Serve and enjoy.

Turkey Tetrazzini

By Paul Briand

If you have turkey still leftover in the freezer from Thanksgiving. And if you want another take on a turkey tetrazini recipe for those leftovers, here's the one that's been in our family forever.

Come to think of it, I think the Pilgrims themselves used this recipe after their feast with Massasoit.

My take on this recipe includes more cheese than originally called for, I use half and half instead of cream, plus I use large shells instead of spaghetti.

This recipe, by the way, works equally as well with chicken and you don't need leftovers from Thanksgiving to pull it off. Most markets that offer roasted chickens these days also offer roasted turkey breasts, which provides plenty of meat for the recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups of turkey
1/2 pound of mushrooms
1 cup chicken broth
Flour
1 cup cream (substitute half and half)
Butter
Sherry (to taste)
Black pepper
16 ounces of cooked think spaghetti (substitute shells or your favorite paste)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (substitute 2 cups, add some different cheese to the mix)

Directions
1. In a large skillet over medium high heat melt a half stick of butter and sautee mushrooms;
2. As they start to shrink add flour to make a rue;
3. Add the broth, cream and sherry, stirring until the sauce thickens;
4. (At this point, I diverge from my family recipe and also add a cup of cheese);
5. Add some black pepper;
6. Stir in the turkey and heat through;
7. In a bowl, combine the turkey mixture with the the cooked pasta;
8. Pour the mixture into a baking dish;
9. Top with rest of cheese (You could also add a sprinkling of bread crumbs here, too, as an option);
10. Bake in oven preheated to 350 degrees covered for 15 minutes until the cheese melts and the top starts to brown;
11. Serve with cranberry sauce.